Labs are great, but ...

Rufus Giuseppe

Once again, for the quintillionth year in a row, you have chosen the Labrador retriever as your favorite family dog.

I have many friends that are Labrador, not there is anything wrong with that, but they are so easy to like, can’t you folks challenge yourself a little?

They look adorable, act sweet, let babies pull their tails and ears and eat anything and everything you put in their path. Yes, they are gentle, can fetch balls until the cat comes home and just want to be loved.

But I could say that about a lot of other breeds, dogs that also have more discrimating palates and, (How can I put this?) can also balance chemical equations. OK, maybe not, but let’s just say they are a little smarter than the average Lab.

Take me, for example, I look adorable with both long and short hair, I am sweet, I let babies pull my tail and ears but I won’t eat just anything. Lettuce, to be specific, doesn’t meet my standards for edibleness. I am gentle, like to play ball and just want to be petted and stroked. But I give as much as I get, let me make that clear. And I have a pretty big vocabulary and strong intuition, not to mention more common sense than a landfill full of skunks.

I also have a bark that will scare off the toughest burglar or most fanatical Jehovah’s Witness.

I’ve pretty much got the whole package. And because I have hair, I don’t shed like those deceivingly short-coated Labs do.

I could probably make similar cases for a lot of my friends, both mixed-breed and purebred. We are all great, really. And if you rescue us rather than buy from a breeder, we will be extra loyal and will try extra hard not to chew your earbuds.